Car-coupling



(No Model.)

J. C. HUGULEY.

GAR OUPLING.

No. 489,607. Patented Jan. 10, 1893.A

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s Nonms PErERs mcmxumo.. WASHINGTON D c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOB. o. HUGULEY, or DALLAS, TExAs.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 489,607, dated January10, 1893.

Application inea Jun.. 30,1892.

To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, JOB. C. HUGULEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Dallas, in the county of Dallas and State of Texas, haveinvented a new and useful Car-Coupling, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to an automatic car coupler for railway cars, andit has for its object to provide a device of this type which will bepositive and certain in operation, sim` ple in construction,interchangeablein parts, durable in use, cheap in manufacture, and notliable to become deranged or inoperative by rough usage or by theexterior influences of weather or other conditions.

My invention consists in certain details of construction arrangement andcombination of parts, all of which will be more fully describedhereinafter, and the specific points of novelty in which will beparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisspecicationz-Figure lis a longitudinal vertical section showing theadjacent ends of two cars equipped with my improvement. Fig. 2 isatransverse section on line a; of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a detail view of theuncoupling lever its cam, and detent. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of oneof the draw heads. Fig. 5 is a front or end elevation of Fig. 4.

Like letters of reference mark similar or corresponding parts in theseveral views of the-drawings.

A,A indicate two juxtaposed cars of any ordinaryconstruction,-diagrammatically represented,-and severally provided attheir adjacent ends with a draw head B of prescribed construction, ashereinafter explained, and bolted rigidly to the car body in the usualmanner in alignment and in the same horizontal plane with each other soas to be in mutual operative relation. Each draw head is substantiallyrectangular in exterior outline (see Fig. 4), is cast in one piece ofmetal and comprises integrally the flaring open end or mouth a, and thelateral raised rib c which acts as the supporting agency for theuncoupling lever D.

The interior of each draw head B is recessed in an irregular manner, themouth a being curved outwardly and converging in- Serial No. 438,599.(No model.)

wardly in the manner shown, constituting a guiding surfacecircumscribing the entrance of the coupling head pin. The said mouth dis provided with a vertically depending lip e having a convex curvedengaging surface merging rearwardly into the interior recess of the drawhead. Approximately at the rear of the interior of the draw head B isplaced two mutually recessed jaws f, f', horizontally pivoted in thesides of the draw head and is supported in such position by the swiveledpins g, g (see Figs. 2 and 4). The said jaws f, f are, respectively,provided with mutually corresponding recesses which conform in shape andcontour to the engaging coupling pin head designed to enter in between,and be held by the said jawsf, and f', serving to admit the head of thecoupling pin in its seat and to permit its disengagement when operatedin a manner hereinafter described.

By reference to Figs. 1, 2, and 4, it will be seen that on the underside of the draw head B there is a weighted detent lever C pivotedbetween the bifurcations 71 h of the bracket, I, formed on the undersideof the draw-head, and exteriorly thereof, by the pivot pin j; and thisgravity lever is mechanically connected to, and operated by, the jaw fby the engaging finger k curved at its engaging extremity as shownclearly in Fig. l and adapted to uplift the weighted end of the detentlever C by the corresponding movement of the jaw f, which in turn isoperated by the uncoupling lever D pivoted on the rib c and provided onthe inside of the'draw head with an engaging cam Z having its face orbearing portion engaging and impinging against a shoulder m on the sideof the jaw f. Thus it will be understood by thisvconstruction that byshifting the lever D in the direction of the arrow, Fig. t, the rearends of the jaws f f are depressed and the centrally depending finger 7sof jaw f will engage and uplift the weighted end of the detent lever C,which normally holds the jaw f in the position shown in Fig. l, whichposition shows the coupling pin engaged and held in its seat between thesaid jaws against displacement. It will also be seen by reference toFig.l,that the under side of the draw head B is provided with a slot n,slightly elongated, permitting therethrough the entrance and operationof the finger k attached, as before stated, rigidly to the jaw f', andpassing through a slot o in the detent lever C.

The coupling pin F consists simply of a solid rod of metal provided atboth ends with an enlarged conical head forming the shoulder p betweenthe rod-body and the head G, which tapers outwardly to the apex or pointq. This head G is designed to enter into the interior recess of the drawhead B, being guided by the curved sides of said recess into and throughthe j aws f until the shoulder p passes slightly beyond the rearextremities of the jaws f, f into aeorrespondingly shaped socket llformed in the rear wall of the draw head as clearly shown in Fig. l.

Referring to Fig. 4f, r indicates a limit pin placed with relation tothe uncoupling lever D so that the same will permit a prescribed forwardmovement of the said lever and thus limit the drop or fall of the detentlever C, mechanicallyconnectedwith,and operated by, the uncoupling leverD, as before described.

In order that my improved draw head may be utilized in connection withthe old form of couplingpin and link,l haveprovided as shown in Figs. land 2, the circular perforations s, s respectively iu the upper andlower walls of the draw head, and situated in vertical alignment witheach other to permit the insertion of an ordinary coupling pin to engageand hold the old form of link. I do not deem it necessary to show suchcoupling link and pin in order to demonstrate such utilization of theparts.

The operation of my invention briefly stated is as follows. One end ofthe coupling pin F being inserted in and held by the jaws fand of a drawhead B on a stationary car A and the other free head or end G of saidcoupling pin resting in a disengaged free position, the approaching drawhead B of a nearing car will, by means of the fiaring mouth a e11- gageand guide the said head G into the interior recess of the draw headthrough the jaws f, and f until the shoulder p ot' the coupling pin willhave passed the rear extremities of said jaws, thereby relieving the jawf of its depressing agency, and permitting the weighted detent lever Cto drop by gravity and thus elevate and replace the jaw f in its normalposition preventing the longitudinal withdrawal of the coupling pin headG, since the shoulder p acts as an impediment thereto, it beingunderstood that the return of the jaw f to its normal position causesboth of said jaws to embrace the coupling pin behind the shoulder p.

In order to uncouple the ears A, A from the position shown in Fig. l, itis only necessary to actuate the lever D in the direction of the arrow,which will actuate the cam Zto depress the lower pivoted jaw f thusremoving the impediment to the withdrawal of the head G of the couplingF from the draw head B, the curved recess in both jaws guiding therearward movement ot' the coupliug-pin-head, while it is being retractedby the separation of the cars A, A.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is;-

l. The combination with a coupling pin having an enlarged conical head,of a draw head interiorly recessed and provided with means for engagingand releasing said head, pivoted jaws mutually recessed to correspond tothe shape of the coupling pin head and designed to receive and hold thesame in a fixed position, a weighted detent lever controlling the actionof one of said pivoted jaws, and a cam acting lever for actuating thesaid pivoted jaw against the iniiuenee of the aforesaid weighted lever,substantially as specified.

2. The combination with a draw head having an open flaring mouthconverging into an interior recess, of an upper pivoted jaw suitablyplaced in said recess, a eo-operating lower pivoted jaw also arranged insaid recess in operative relation to the other jaw, provided with adepending curved finger extending through the bottom of the draw-liead aweighted detent lever independent of the said pivoted jaw and having anopening to receive the cui'ved finger and controlling the movement ofthe lower jaw, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination with a draw head pi'ovided interior-ly with an upperpivoted jaw and a pivoted lower jaw arranged in operative relation tothe said upper jaw and provided with a depending engaging finger, of aweighted detent lever engaged by said finger and controlling the actionof said lower jaw through the medium of the engaging tinger, and meansfor operating the jaw, substantially as specified.

4. The combination with an'upper pivoted jaw of a draw head, and apivoted lower jaw co-operating therewith, of a retracting levermechanically connected to said lower jaw, a cam acting handing leverconnected to said lowerjaw and controlling the movement thereof againstthe intiuence of the retracting lever, and a limiting agency for saidcam lever restricting the drop of the retracting lever, substantially asspecified.

In testiinouy that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JOB. C. HUGULEY.

Witnesses:

A. HUGULEY, R. T. SI-IELTON.

IOC

